After the long excursion yesterday we were ready for a relaxing day of sleeping in (until 8am, haha), getting a workout in, and swimming at the pool. Miss A and Spud had a blast coming up with funny ways to jump in the pool – Spiderman pose, swinging on vines like Tarzan, distracted teenager talking on a phone, etc. They had us all laughing.
We ate pb&js for lunch and then headed to Kamala Beach which is only 10 minutes from us. We coordinated with the family that we met at church and they met us at the beach later in the afternoon.
We had a fun afternoon making new friends and finding out we have a lot in common. They are from the Boise area of Idaho and decided they wanted to travel with their kids before their oldest graduates and leaves on a mission this year. They actually sold their home and downsized to give them more freedom to travel. They are on a 4 month long adventure around SouthEast Asia and Australia. And our kids think our trip is long.
We swapped experiences and stories and homeschooling tips (they just started for this trip and we have been homeschooling since before it was cool, haha). We both agree that thinking outside the box and making family time a priority is the way to go.
It was fun to spend a few hours together, then after we watched the sunset over the water we wished them well on their next adventure.
We ate at a beachside restaurant and enjoyed a few fireworks that were blown off on the beach – this week is Chinese Lunar New Year! The big celebration in Phuket isn’t for a few more days, not sure why since the day is January 29th this year.
One thing we talked about with our new friends is the fact that every time we travel somewhere we wonder “Could we live here? Should we live here?” You know, dreaming of living in a paradise, but also wanting it to be the right thing for the family. Well, Superman and I have already talked about that with Thailand and it’s a definite no…
But in case we needed more of a reason, tonight we stopped at a grocery store to replenish breakfast and lunch supplies for a few days. Mind you, this wasn’t a sketchy corner market– this is the Big C store, a very clean and nice grocery chain. And this, my friends, is how they sell their meat:
Heads on the chickens, open air, no refrigeration, no sell-by dates, nothing keeping it safe or sanitary. Just check out those slabs of bacon sitting there for who knows how long!
So, no worries, we won’t be moving to Thailand anytime soon or ever. I just can’t handle the gross factor. Also I’m very grateful and surprised that we haven’t had any trouble with food poisoning or getting sick (aside from a cold that went through a few in the family). It really is a miracle.
